Eben Nanauq Hopson (November 7, 1922 – June 28, 1980) was an American politician in the state of

Alaska Alaska ( ) is a non-contiguous U.S. state on the northwest extremity of North America. Part of the Western United States region, it is one of the two non-contiguous U.S. states, alongside Hawaii. Alaska is also considered to be the north ...

. An Iñupiaq, he was born and raised in

Utqiaġvik Utqiagvik ( ; , ), formerly known as Barrow ( ), is the borough seat and largest city of the North Slope Borough, Alaska, North Slope Borough in the U.S. state of Alaska. Located north of the Arctic Circle, it is one of the List of northernmost ...

(at the time known as Barrow) and was a heavy equipment operator. Hopson served in Alaska Territorial Legislature from 1957 to 1959 as well as the

Alaska Senate The Alaska State Senate is the upper house in the Alaska State Legislature, the state legislature of the U.S. state of Alaska. It convenes in the Alaska State Capitol in Juneau, Alaska and is responsible for making laws and confirming or reje ...

upon statehood, representing District O from 1959 to 1967. He died from cancer in 1980 in

, Alaska.

Early life

Hopson was the first person to be born in the Presbyterian mission hospital in Utqiaġvik in 1922.

Political career

Hopson served as the first mayor of Utqiaġvik, then known as Barrow. He was first elected to the position in 1972, and was reelected in 1975. In 1977, Hopson founded the

Inuit Circumpolar Council The Inuit Circumpolar Council (ICC; formerly the Inuit Circumpolar Conference) is a multinational non-governmental organization (NGO) and Indigenous Peoples' Organization (IPO) representing the 180,000 Inuit and Yupik (sometimes referred to a ...

, an organization dedicated for the unification of Inuit voices throughout Alaska, Canada, and Greenland. The conference formally recognized Hopson as their founder in 1980. In 1979, Hopson represented the Inuit in a court case suing the US Secretary of Commerce Juanita Kreps on the grounds that the

International Whaling Commission The International Whaling Commission (IWC) is a specialised regional fishery management organisation, established under the terms of the 1946 International Convention for the Regulation of Whaling (ICRW) to "provide for the proper conservation ...

had no standing to regulate subsistence whaling for native peoples. The case was initially ruled against Hopson by the Alaska district court, but was subsequently overturned in 1980 by the

Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals The United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit (in case citations, 9th Cir.) is the U.S. federal court of appeals that has appellate jurisdiction over the U.S. district courts for the following federal judicial districts: * Distric ...

Death and legacy

Hopson was hospitalized in Utqiaġvik on June 16 and died from cancer on June 28, 1980. He was survived by his wife Rebecca and 12 children. International Inuit Day, a celebration of the Inuit culture, has occurred on November 7 since 2006, in honor of Hopson's legacy. The middle school serving Utqiaġvik is named after Hopson.

References

1922 births 1980 deaths 20th-century Alaska Native people 20th-century Inuit people 20th-century mayors of places in Alaska Alaska Native activists Inuit activists Alaska Native inventors and scientists Democratic Party Alaska state senators Deaths from cancer in Alaska Inupiat people Mayors of places in Alaska Members of the Alaska Territorial Legislature Native American mayors in Alaska Native American state legislators in Alaska Inuit politicians People from Utqiagvik, Alaska 20th-century members of the Alaska Legislature {{Alaska-politician-stub